


Just Plane Crazy

by SchuylerSister16 (orphan_account)



Category: Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Gen, all fluff, fluffiest of fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-17
Updated: 2018-12-17
Packaged: 2019-09-21 10:28:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,677
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17042009
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/SchuylerSister16
Summary: When Jack and the gang get enough money scraped together to fly down to Santa Fe, what could possibly go wrong? More than you'd think, when you've got a gang of newsies who've never even been in an airport!





	1. Baggage & Boarding

The newsies reached JFK airport at roughly 5:00 AM on a cold day in December. Their flight left at 8:00 AM, and Jack already wondered if they’d be able to herd all the newsies onto the plane in just three hours. 

“Racer told me you’se going for a flight.” Spot Conlon had been waiting for them on the curb, wearing his signature red tank top and no coat, despite the winter chill. Of course, this meant that Race told him years ago, since it had taken that long for everyone to get their money scraped together.  

“Everybody give Davey your tickets!” Before Davey could protest Jack’s order, his pockets were stuffed with the little slips of paper, since his reputation as the group dad had grown exponentially. 

Race was already whining to no one in particular about the “No Smoking” signs on the doors of the airport as Romeo tried flirting with a slim female traveler who told him to get lost. Smalls and Sniper were leaning on each other, clearly exhausted from the early wake up call. 

“Grab your bags and follow me,” Jack commanded, striding through the doors, Katherine at his side. Really, she was the only one who knew how to navigate an airport because her father often traveled, and brought her with him. She was also the only one dressed and packed properly for a flight. Her comfy clothes and fuzzy boots would make getting through security a breeze. Baggage for Katherine consisted of a small backpack and light carry-on that Jack was currently lugging.   
Most of the other newsies weren’t that smart when it came to packing. Most were lugging gigantic bags that would just barely make the carry-on cut.

“Jack, I’ll carry my own bag,” said Katherine, pulling out the handle and letting it roll behind her. Jack was carrying his and Crutchie’s bags, a very heavy load indeed.

“This place is so cool!” Les was practically bouncing up and down from excitement, and he wasn’t the only one. Almost every Newsie looked like Christmas had come early, awed by the hustle and bustle of a place like the airport. 

“When do we get to fly?” Jojo, loaded down by his overstuffed duffle and equally heavy backpack, was suddenly alert and excited. He’d been exhausted ever since he’d been woken up. Albert and Mush perked up like flowers in the sunshine, no longer weighed down by exhaustion. 

“I’se never flown before.” Specs had finally decided to take his earbuds out and pay attention. Even Spot looked impressed, casually draping his arm on Race’s shoulders. 

Katherine started leading the group towards the security area. Crutchie was given a wheelchair by the staff, and the boys immediately began figuring out how to hang onto the back and get Crutchie going at top speed. Meanwhile, Smalls and Sniper took a few selfies and candid pictures of the boys.

“If you’se even thinkin bout postin that, I’ll kick ya halfway to Queens,” Spot growled at Smalls after she’d managed to get a picture of him with a small smile on his face. She promised not to and added it to her Snap story as soon as he wasn’t looking.

“That’s enough of that,” said Jack after Crutchie nearly slammed into the wall. “If he gets hurt, this trip is over!” Finch stuck out his tongue at Jack, but stopped the speed mania on the wheelchair. 

“Santa Fe is really quite a fascinating city…” Davey was trying to tell the boys all about the reading he’d been doing on their destination, but most were too excited about the airplane to even care. His backpack was full of guidebooks, plus a copy of _The Hobbit_. 

“Morning miss! You must be the sun, cause you light up my life!” Romeo was beginning to discover that at 5 am, few girls appreciate being hit on. For the first time in a very long time, not a single girl was returning his compliments with a smile. They were too frazzled and harried to pay attention to him. 

“I’se never met such rude goils,” he pouted for a moment, then resumed looking for the next girl to flirt with.   
Everyone was already having a great time, pushing and razzing each other all the way to the security line, which was dozens of people deep. When no one was looking, Les quietly pulled out some of Davey’s snacks and began eating them. Specs had resumed listening to his music while Sniper and Smalls shared headphones. 

“Why we gotta stand in line?” Buttons was already in a complaining mood that quickly spread to the rest of the group, save for Davey and Crutchie. Jack looked ready to pull his own hair out, Katherine held one of his wrists to make sure he didn’t haul off and smack Buttons.

“I’se the King of Brooklyn. I don’t do lines.” Spot was pouting like a three-year-old as Katherine calmly reminded him that everyone, kings or otherwise, went through security. No one felt bad for him in the slightest. Elmer and Albert were arguing about whether the metal detector was an x-ray machine that could see under your clothes or not. 

“Jack, you don’t think they’ll flip out on the plane, do you?” Katherine knew that the newsies had only seen planes on TV, and most of the boys had chickened out when they rode the Cyclone at Coney Island. How would they react to a plane?

“They’ll be fine,” said Jack, not admitting that he was nervous about flying, especially since Race had been trying to scare everyone with stories of plane crashes. The disappearing Malaysia Airlines flight was the one that gave Jack the shivers. A few moments later, Davey caught Les with a fistful of Twizzlers in his mouth and snatched what was left of his snacks back into his backpack. Crutchie was laughing and joking with the others, but wasn’t nearly as much trouble as the far more rambunctious boys. 

As the line crept forward, Jack’s hopes of his friends behaving themselves began to die. Romeo had resumed hitting on literally every girl in line, even Sniper and Smalls when he ran out of girls to hit on. For a moment, it looked like the two girlsies would soak him, but they shrugged it off and resumed listening to their music. Elmer and Albert’s argument broke out into a mini fight, which escalated when they bumped into Finch who accidently jabbed Spot in the gut with his elbow. Fortunately, Jack was able to break up the fight before it got too serious. 

“Boys! No fights in the airport!” The offenders cowered at Katherine’s sharp voice, even Spot looked a little nervous. Race was attempting to illicitly smoke one of his beloved Coronas (he’d swiped two boxes in anticipation of the trip), which backfired when he accidentally blew smoke into an employee. He managed to snuff it out before he was caught, stuffing it quickly into his pocket. 

“Hey Spotty, betcha five bucks that Albert’s got something metal in his bag.” When smoking failed, Race could always count on gambling. Spot nodding, after warning Race that if he called him “Spotty” ever again, he’d soak him good. 

“Jack, you did tell the boys what you can and can’t have on the airplane, right?” Jack tensed up slightly at Katherine’s question. He’d tried very hard to remind the boys about what they could pack, but he knew they most likely wouldn’t listen. Odds were, at least one of them had brought liquids or something metal. 

“You don’t think I’ll have any trouble with the security, do you?” Crutchie had told Jack that he didn’t want to be a burden or a worry on the trip, and he planned on making good on his promise. Katherine assured him that the security team would be ready for anything.   
Finally, the newsies began stripping off their shoes and placing their luggage on the conveyor belt. Immediately, they ran into problems. More than half of the newsies had chosen Converse or other tight-laced shoes. 

“I lost my shoe!” Spec’s left black Converse had disappeared and was found, for whatever reason, with Mush’s shoes. It took them forever to get their shoes off, and by the time they did, Katherine and Davey were on the other side. 

“Les! The conveyor belt is not a ride!” Davey watched helplessly as Les climbed onto the belt, fortunately Jack put a stop to it before anything bad happened.   
Albert and Elmer both had brought gigantic shampoo bottles they had to throw away. Specs, Mush, and Jojo all had water bottles that were thrown away and Spot had bought an ice-cold Coke that was promptly thrown in the trash. All of the boys had to show the staff their travel-sized liquids, and of course, only a handful had put them in a Ziploc at the top of their bag so it could easily be found, per Jack’s instructions. Despite his worrying, Crutchie actually took the shortest time (a minute and a half, according to Davey) because he’d made sure to follow Jack’s instructions, plus the staff were very accommodating and friendly.  
Romeo took the longest (close to five minutes, an hour if you asked Les), since he was trying to find his extra bottle of conditioner and flirt with a female security guard at the same time. She was not impressed, giving Romeo a flinty stare. 

Unfortunately for Race, Albert had nothing metal in his bag. Spot made the mistake of bringing a straight razor with him, he was escorted away by guards in order to mail it back to himself. Davey managed to give him back his ticket so he’d be able to know where they were going.   
Finally, after all of the mini-fiascos, everyone made it through, and spent the next five minutes tugging and lacing shoes back on. Katherine and Davey had gotten Starbucks, and Jack was grateful that his girlfriend had brought him a cup too. The newsies watched in fascination as Katherine filled up her empty water bottle, and wished they’d been as smart. Davey wisely decided to give everyone their tickets, knowing that they’d be utterly transfixed by all the things to see.   
Jack was not prepared for how distracting the next stretch would be. The airport was filled to the brim with overpriced shops and restaurants, and Starbucks every 50 feet or so. Another problem was that their gate was on the opposite side of the airport. 

“Ooh, a bar!” Race and Romeo were trailing off to hopefully have a few drinks before their flight. Albert and Elmer were investigating a run-of-the-mill airport gift shop while Specs and Crutchie found a bookstore that even Davey was intrigued by. Smalls, Sniper, Finch, and Jojo were bolting for a Harley-Davidson store, even Katherine was glancing wistfully at a flower shop. Les had found the thing to end all things: a toy store that also swallowed up Buttons and Mush. All this happened within two minutes. 

“We’ve gotta get going,” warned Katherine, anxiously checking her phone. “We’ve only got an hour and a half to get to our gate, and with this crowd, it’ll take forever.” Planting a kiss on her cheek, Jack assured her that they’d make it, despite having a hard time believing it himself.  
Race and Romeo reappeared, due to being unable to bribe the doorman of the bar. Romeo was still flirting with abandon, including with what appeared to be a twelve-year-old girl who immediately asked for his Instagram.

“Can’t even have a shave on vacation!” Spot rejoined the group, bitter about giving up his razor as Romeo blew the girl a kiss goodbye. Davey had returned, disappointed by the bookstore’s high prices, the bolted for the toy store to find Les. The rest of the gang was rounded up in seven minutes or so, then the long walk to their gate began. The walk seemed never ending with the boys wanting to stop every time they saw something vaguely interesting. 

“Ooh, sunglasses!” Jojo was immediately yanked back in line by Spot, who could sense that Jack needed some help keeping the boys in line. 

“Chocolate!” Elmer and Albert had to be dragged away as well, transfixed by the chocolate goodies in the window of the store. Nearly everyone was distracted at some point during the trek. 

By the time they reached their gate, they had about 40 minutes until boarding. Specs, Smalls, and Sniper pushed and elbowed their way to some electrical outlets on the wall, Katherine let them use her power strip. 

“Did you know that Santa Fe…” Davey was already reading his guidebooks when Race clamped a hand over his mouth and told him to cram it. Then, turning his attention to the game of mini-poker on the floor, Race began pulling loose change out of his pockets to bet with. Romeo, Finch, and Spot did the same, though Romeo continued to whistle and holler at passing ladies. 

“Hey miss, are you a library book? Cause I’m checking you out!” The mousy brown-haired girl passing by calmly flipped Romeo off and continued walking, the boys heckling Romeo in her wake. 

Les was occupying himself with his 3DS and a single pixie stick he’d begged from Jojo, who was playing Egyptian War with Buttons, Albert, and Elmer. Jack had pulled out a book Davey had told him to read, entitled _The Outsiders_. It was actually pretty good. Katherine was working on _The Mark of Athena_ , while Crutchie listened to music and smiled. 

“I’m exhausted,” Jack yawned, stretching his arms so he’d have an excuse to hook one around Katherine’s shoulders. For a while they sat staring out the giant windows, watching the planes take off. It was pretty peaceful. 

“Not in front of the innocents!” Race joked, silenced with two equally murderous glares from Katherine and Jack. So far, he’d managed to cheat close to three dollars in loose change out of three boys. Spot was beginning to suspect Race of cheating, and it wouldn’t have been unusual, it was how Race won most games of poker. 

“Hey, what’s that stickin outta your sleeve?” Romeo yanked an ace out of Romeo’s sleeve, and a fight ensued, with the three poker players attempting to soak the cheater. Jack was forced to break up the fight, and made sure everyone got their money back. 

“Flight 189 to Santa Fe, boarding now.” All of the boys looked at Jack, who nodded and they began to hurriedly gather up their things. Bags were hefted, backpacks repacked, and jackets zipped as they approached the gate agent, a slim redhead who immediately had Romeo smitten. 

“Scuse me ma’am, but could I borrow a kiss? I promise I’ll give it back!” The redhead, who’s nametag said Lillian, took it in stride and scanned everyone’s tickets. Katherine realized that she’d paid no attention to who was sitting next to whom when she bought the tickets. She did know that she was sitting with Jack, thank goodness. 

“Let’s go boys!” Jack walked into the plane, with Katherine at his side. He was trying to appear confident, but he was afraid of what could happen when the plane took off. Getting on the plane wasn’t much of a problem, until everyone started finding their seats. Jack, Katherine, and Crutchie sat in row E1. Davey, Les, and Specs took G1. Race, Romeo, and Spot took E2 (the middle of three rows of seats) while Smalls, Sniper and Jojo sat in G2. Finch, Buttons, and Mush ended up in H1. Albert and Elmer were lucky enough to get the three seats in H2 all to themselves.

“This is fun!” Les, with the assistance of Race, had been placed in the overhead luggage compartment. He was quickly removed by Davey and Jack. A miniature disaster occurred when several pairs of red checkered boxers fell out of Spot’s duffle, soon his face was the same color as he quickly stuffed them back in and shoved his luggage into the compartment.

“This isn’t as bad as I thought!” The airline they were flying with had dirt cheap seats, Katherine had to wake up at six AM to get them, and each seat had a little tablet on the back of it. Race quickly discovered a poker program on the tablets that was betting with real money. Using his debit card he’d acquired for such purposes, he lied to the computer (he wasn’t 21) and immediately began betting, Spot quietly cheering him on. 

“You lose all your money, I’se not gonna feel sorry,” warned Jack, and Race reminded him of what a fabulous poker player he was.  
Everyone began to find ways to screw around, especially since all of the flight attendants were wearing short skirts, and Romeo had an aisle seat. A newsies-only game of mahjong began on the tablets, with losers howling at winners. Crutchie had put his earbuds in, and another pair of headphones on top of those so he could actually hear his music. Les was carefully examining the Sky Mall catalogue, every few seconds he’d jab Davey and point to some overpriced knick-knack and ask if he could buy it. Katherine leaned on Jack’s shoulder as he wondered whether it was possible to be kicked off a plane mid-flight. If the poor flight attendants knew what was coming, they’d already be escorting the boys off the plane. 

“If I could have everyone’s attention please, a safety video will now begin playing. Please pay close attention.” Boys who had headphones in were jabbed in the side until they paid attention to the small tablets. Jack began to wish that the boys didn’t have to watch the safety video. There were too many awful scenarios being displayed, and most of the boys were starting to get jittery. 

“Nobody told me I’se gonna die on this trip!” Finch was so nervous he was holding hands with Buttons, who looked equally afraid. Katherine rolled her eyes; didn’t the boys know that plane crashes almost never happened? Nearly all of them looked terrified after the “in the event of a water landing” segment. Les was practically shaking, Davey wisely distracted him with the Sky Mall catalogue once again. Even Spot looked uncertain of what was to come. 

“Okay folks, we’ll be taking off in about a minute, please fasten your seatbelts and turn off all electronics.” Katherine noticed that Jack seemed tense and was gripping her hand tightly. 

“We’se gonna make it, right Jack?” Albert’s voice floated behind Jack, who immediately reassured them that yes, they were going to make it safely. This seemed to relax the majority of the boys, except Elmer, who was scaring himself even more by reading the safety pamphlet. Everyone startled as the plane began to taxi down the runway. Suddenly, Katherine remembered the air pressure, and started frantically passing sticks of gum to the boys, with instructions to begin chewing immediately. Frightened once again, they all complied without protest. 

“Here we go,” said Katherine, as the plane began to speed down the runway, picking up speed. All of the boys held their breath, Jack’s grip on Katherine’s hand was so tight she let out a squeak of pain. Les was whimpering. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief once the plane was in the air, and immediately jockeyed to see out the window. Ears began to pop and nerves were soothed. 

“Ain’t this something?” Jack looked like he’d survived the ordeal of a lifetime. The worst was over. Or so he thought, the gang still had a four-hour flight ahead of them. What could possibly go wrong?


	2. Talking Too Loud & Titanic

“Good morning sir, would you like to take a look at our drink menu, or are you ready to order?” Jack sucked in a breath. The drink cart was going down the aisle, and unfortunately, the prettiest flight attendant on the plane was serving Romeo. 

“Well I’ve already got a tall drink of water right in front of me, miss!” Race and Spot groaned at Romeo’s horrible line. The flight attendant didn’t seem to mind, she repeated her question and Romeo settled on a glass of coke. Race and Spot both attempted to order alcohol, the plucky flight attendant calmly informed them the only beer they’d be enjoying was root beer. Disgruntled, the two of them settled for coke. 

“Can’t you’se dial back the flirting for one hot minute?” Race hissed as Romeo attempted flirting with the other flight attendant. He was silenced when she grinned and gave the boys extra bags of airline trail mix. Jack and Katherine settled on coke as well, Crutchie was too sleepy to even speak coherently. 

“I wanna glass of coke!” Les, already jittery from a combination of candy and nerves, was demanding caffeinated soda. Davey let him have root beer while tricking Les into believing that the root beer was caffeinated, then ordered Diet Coke, resuming his reading of _The Unofficial Guide to Santa Fe_. Shortly after, he caught Les taking a huge gulp of Spec’s Coke. 

“Flying ain’t so bad,” Jack smiled, engrossed by the fluffy clouds and bird’s eye view of New York. Suddenly the plane began to jolt and shake, the overhead seat belt light blinking on. Most of the boys immediately began screaming in terror, with Spot’s scream being much louder than all the others. Even Jack was panicking, no longer the fearless leader. Katherine desperately tried to restore order, but it was no use. 

“I’se too young to die!” Finch was practically on top of Buttons as Mush began to blubber something about writing his will out on a napkin. Apparently, most of his personal belongings were going to be bequeathed to Jack. 

“Aww shut up, ya babies,” Sniper from behind Spot and Race’s row. Seconds later as the plane dipped again she screamed too and Smalls immediately began calling her a baby.

“I feel sick!” Everyone stiffened at Albert’s moan from the back. No one wanted to be around if he did puke. Fresh screams rose up as the plane dipped a little, Jack could hear Les having a meltdown and Davey trying to calm him down. 

“This is not how the King of Brooklynn goes down!” Spot was now holding hands with Race, acting like a wild animal in a cage. Everyone was panicking with every dip, jolt, and bump of the plane and the screams were getting even louder.

“We’re going to die!” Buttons was nearly out of his head with fright, clutching Finch like a ragdoll. 

“I had a dream we would die this way!” From the back Jojo could barely be heard over the roar of screaming and yelling. Jack was yelling too and desperately holding on to Katherine.

“No one is dying today,” Katherine yelled, but it was useless, Buttons and Jojo’s heedless cries had worked everyone into a tizzy. Katherine could see Davey was just as scared as his baby brother. Amazingly, Crutchie was still sleeping, despite Romeo’s insanely loud shrieks.

“Will you all put a lid on it?! I can’t hear my music!” Spec’s enraged demands could scarcely be heard over all the panic. Katherine blushed as other passengers began to whisper and stare. 

“This is your captain speaking.” The screaming stopped, but everyone could feel the tidal wave of fear still present as the plane continued to jolt. “We are currently experiencing mild turbulence. Please keep your seatbelts fastened, and don’t worry too much. We will be arriving in Santa Fe right on schedule.” Thankfully, this seemed to calm most of the boys, save for Finch and Mush, who’d gone pale with fright. 

“Davey, I have to pee!” Davey sighed loudly and everyone could here the eyeroll. The seatbelt light had turned off so taking Les by the wrist, they headed to the back of the plane in search of the airplane bathroom. Crutchie was now snuggled happily against Katherine’s arm, completely forgetting it was Katherine. Neither Jack nor Katherine seemed to mind, so he was left sleeping. 

“Sir! That drink cart is not a toy!” Seconds later, Finch and Buttons rolled by atop the drink cart, being chased by a flight attendant. Jack yelled at them to stop, they jumped off just before the drink cart went rolling through the curtain that marked first class. A crash was heard a few moments later. 

“Don’t worry miss, they’ll help you clean up,” Jack promised, flashing her a debonair smile. Turning to the two perpetrators he added, “and if you don’t, I’ll soak you’se the minute we hit Santa Fe!” Finch and Buttons saluted with twin glares, then trotted after the flight attendant. Jack sat back in his seat with a sigh. A small scuffle emerged once more when Romeo foolishly attempted stealing Spot’s bag of skittles. All it took was a glare, and Romeo meekly handed them back.   
Race tried smoking once again, and the harried flight attendant snatched the lit cigar out of his mouth. 

“My Corona!” He wailed pitifully as the attendant pointed to the No Smoking sign. A Disney song played quietly, as well as a Backstreet Boys song that played much less quietly that someone (sources later revealed it was Albert) was singing along to.  

“Racetrack, you can smoke all you want once you’se off the plane,” Spot muttered, preoccupied with texting his Brooklynn boys about who was in charge in his absence and such. At this, Racer pouted in a rather impish manner. Finch and Buttons returned from cleaning up the drink cart with a can of Pepsi for the two of the to split, which fizzed all over their clothes from the wild ride of the drink cart. 

“Ha! Go fish!” Jojo was apparently playing the classic card game with Sniper and Smalls, who didn’t understand how he was so good at such a dumb game.   
Katherine was busy scribbling out an article for an online magazine she’d been employed with as Jack absentmindedly stared out the window. 

“Hey! They’se starting a movie!” Immediately, everyone was frantically turning on the tablets and plugging in headphones to watch. 

“What’s the movie?” Jack continued to daydream and stare out the window, despite the commotion around him. 

“ _Titanic_ ,” Race groaned. Only a few had seen it before, and everyone was curious. Somebody was singing “My Heart Will Go On” while everyone discussed DiCaprio’s lone Oscar. Davey had his nose buried in another guidebook, periodically stopping to glare at anyone making noise. He pulled out his color-coded master schedule to make a few minor adjustments to their plans. Unfortunately, most of the places he’d wanted to visit had been axed by the other boys, who had zero interest in museums or monuments. 

“Is everyone sure they wanna miss the New Mexico History Museum?” Several hands swatted Davey and told him shut up, they were trying to watch a movie. Davey rolled his eyes and retreated to his color-coding once more. 

“C’mon five more…” Crutchie was mumbling something in his sleep with his face still buried in the depths of Katherine’s arm. Jack was calmly sketching Katherine as she worked, pausing to take in the view out the window. 

“Guess who’s just won forty bucks?!” Spot thumped Race on the back of the head, then whispered that he was proud, but not to announce it so loudly. Then they began to whisper plans of the utmost importance for when they got to Santa Fe. One of them was writing, “Brooklyn’s Here” and “Manhattan’s Here” somewhere in the hotel lobby without being spotted, and erasing it when they left, but not before taking pictures. 

“Hey doll, what’s a pretty goil like you doing on an airplane like this?” A girl wearing a _Tuck Everlasting_ Broadway shirt walked down the aisle (Race compliment the shirt), and Romeo was flipped off for the second time that day. 

“Back to the bench!” Smalls always loved to watch the boys get turned down when flirting. “You struck out, slugger!” Her eyes danced with laughter, apparently Sniper was recording the entire altercation. 

“I’m crushed,” Romeo wailed much louder than was necessary, then smirking at the camera. The Disney music was gone, replaced by someone singing along to _Bonnie and Clyde_. Jack didn’t admit it, but he was rather fond of that semi-obscure musical. _Titanic_ was still progressing, only Elmer and Albert were really truly watching it. Everyone else did their own thing and occasionally glanced onscreen. Snacks were being broken out in increasingly large numbers. Every candy you could buy in New York was being distributed. Davey was absentmindedly chewing on what was left of his Twizzlers as Les opened a jumbo-sized bag of M&Ms. _Hamilton_ was being played not-so-quietly, competing with a mini One Direction sing-a-long. 

“Jackpot!” Albert had the presence of mind to bring a family sized bag of kettle chips that he shared with Elmer. Race and Spot shared a bag of Skittles and dared each other to eat the warheads they’d brought with them. Bags of Cheetos, Doritos, and Goldfish crackers were being passed around as well. 

“We in Santa Fe yet?” Crutchie woke up with his face in Katherine’s arm and was more than a little embarrassed. He pulled out an entire Subway sandwich and began munching, to the envy of everyone else on board. “Ooh, _Titanic_!” A rogue Dorito sailed through the air and hit Spot on the nose. He fired back with a lone Skittle that expertly hit Specs right in the…well…specs. He returned with an Oreo that hit Race, and soon the fight was on. Snack foods began to fly in the air at an alarming rate, and once again, the other passengers were getting concerned. 

“Next person to throw spends the trip sleeping in the bathtub!” Suddenly the snacks disappeared at Jack’s warning. “And clean up this mess before we all get in hot water!” They hadn’t been able to get enough hotel rooms for everyone to have a bed, and more than one person was going to have to sleep on the floor. A bit of grumbling rose up as boys had to climb under seats to retrieve wayward snack foods that were promptly eaten.  
Davey had gotten so tired of his reading material he was actually examining the Sky Mall catalogue in equal parts fascination and revulsion at the horribly high prices. 

“Everybody say hi!” Someone was taking a video, only Les waved without an overdramatic sigh and eyeroll. Jack finished his drawing of Katherine and calmly showed it to her, then started working on a sketch of Crutchie engrossed in _Titanic_. 

“Are we there yet?” Everyone groaned at the offending voice. By Katherine’s guess, they were roughly halfway through the flight. _Titanic_ continued to chug along, most of the boys gazing in awe at Jack and Rose’s fun in the cargo hold car. Davey had distracted Les with a different movie on his phone. 

“That looks fun!” Romeo smirked at the movie sex scene until Race helpfully reminded him that they were on a boat that was eventually going to sink. Then it seemed considerably less fun. Race had racked up close to one hundred dollars in online poker winnings, he apparently had plans of trying some tequila and authentic margaritas down in Santa Fe. 

“I’se getting tired of being all scrunched up in this here seat,” Jack muttered, and he wasn’t the only one feeling a little restless. Jojo and Elmer were both pacing up and down the aisles. Legs piled on top of other people for want of room to stretch out. 

“It’s only a little longer,” Katherine assured him, privately wishing they could hurry up and get off the plane. The longer they stayed aboard, the more likely they’d get in trouble. After all, the boys were restless, and bad things usually happened when they got restless. 

“Don’t you wanna get away from the same old parts you gotta play? Cause I got what you need…” A _Greatest Showman_ sing-a-long had kicked off in the back, competing directly with a rousing rendition of “Hakuna Matata” for dominance. 

“Keep it down!” Specs was yelling to demand the right to hear his music in unison with Davey yelling for the right to some peace and quiet while reading the Sky Mall catalogue. Smack between them was Les, happily playing Pokémon. 

“We’re almost to Santa Fe, can’t you’se shut up for a little longer?” Spot had clearly had his fill of the rowdy Manhattan boys. After all, his Brooklynn boys shut up with a wave of his hand, these kids didn’t shut up for anyone. 

“I’m sorry sirs, but I’ve received more than a few noise complaints from the other passengers. I’ll have to ask you to keep it down.” The pretty flight attendant was back and did not look impressed with the boy’s conduct while aboard the plane. Her face was pulled into a tight, disapproving line, and Romeo’s attempts to soften her up did nothing in their favor. 

“Hey, hey! I’se thinking we listen to the lady!” Jack’s bark lowered the volume by several decibels, he and Katherine immediately began apologizing to the flight attendant. Crutchie also apologized, despite the fact that he’d done nothing wrong and had been asleep for most of the time. Thankfully, the sing-a-longs reluctantly grinded to a halt. More time ticked by, a few boys had fallen asleep while most stayed awake to fool around. Jack finished drawing Crutchie then resumed staring out the window in a slightly angsty manner.

“I’se gonna live my dream,” Jack said to no one in particular, “I’se gonna see Santa Fe.”

 

“I thought it would be a Fanta Se,” Race smirked, everyone gasped at his horrible pun except Spot, who slapped him a high five. Jack looked like he didn’t know how to respond to that. 

Finally, _Titanic_ had gotten interesting. The boat had started going down, and even Specs took one earbud out to watch. Davey started in on explaining several things that had actually happened that the movie was going to show, several people told him to cram it. He became so engrossed in the movie he failed to notice that a wide-eyed Les was watching too. 

“Oh, this movie’s so sad,” Katherine sighed, but didn’t elaborate any further. She didn’t wanna be the one to drop all the spoilers. All eyes were glued to the screens, watching the plight of Jack and Rose. Tensions were running high, and if someone dared speak, they were immediately shushed and thumped on the head. 

“Gentlemen, it has been a privilege playing with you tonight.” Everyone was feeling a lot sadder as the water reached the four musicians aboard the boat. 

“They’se my heroes,” whimpered Finch in a quavering voice. Eyes were wide, hands and arms were being held, everyone was now fully invested in the fate of Jack and Rose. 

The captain made an announcement about being in Santa Fe in an hour, no one cared, not even Jack. The fate of the two lovers aboard the _Titanic_ was far too important. Jack and Rose were in the water now, both shivering and freezing. They’d found the door and Rose was on top of it. 

“I don't know about you, but I intend to write a strongly worded letter to the White Star Line about all of this.” People were starting to grasp exactly what was happening to onscreen Jack as he shivered in the cold waters of the Atlantic, and they were starting to freak out. 

“Oh my god,” Romeo whispered, his voice cracking a little from the sheer emotion. “Ain’t there enough room for the both of them on that there door?” Katherine and Jack were holding hands, both of them with misty eyes. Crutchie looked almost beside himself with pure sorrow for the adorable onscreen couple. 

“I’ll never let go Jack. I’ll never let go, I promise!” As Jack’s body sank beneath the waves, multiple people gasped. Katherine had misty eyes along with Jack. Multiple people could be heard crying quietly, including Spot, who had his arms around an equally emotional Race. As the movie finished up, several people were still crying. 

“My heart!” Crutchie wailed, swiping at his eyes. Jack was struggling to hold back tears along with Spot, who had a soft spot for tragically romantic movies. Les was outright bawling, and Davey looked a little emotional too as he tried to calm them down. Finch was attempting to choke back sobs while clinging to Buttons. Specs was sniffling. 

“Hey Spot, wassamatter?” Immediately, Spot started howling about dust in his eyes, and threatening to soak Smalls, who’d managed to hold back her tears and was now teasing him. Everyone began to collect themselves piece by piece, except Les, who was hiccupping and sobbing at the same time. 

“This is you captain speaking, we’ll be landing in Santa Fe in about twenty minutes.” Once again, no one cared as a very emotional sing-a-long to “My Heart Will Go On” commenced as well as a heated debate about whether Jack could’ve fit on the door. Most everyone was in agreement, he definitely could’ve fit. As the boys collected their emotions, they also collected the rest of their possessions. Of course, many were accused of stealing someone else’s things, only for the thing to appear minutes later exactly where they’d left it. 

Once again, Specs lost his shoe, it was found wedged under Les’s seat with no explanation as to how it got there. Headphones, iPhones, and other assorted phones were rounded up, final onboard selfies were taken and all was relatively well. 

“This was a good flight,” Katherine smiled, tying up her laptop charger and stowing it in her bag. Jack agreed, despite not really having been on any other flight. The flight attendants returned to make sure trays were stowed. Romeo tried one last time to woo the flight attendant, she gave him a wink back and he nearly passed out. 

Everyone was once again feeling jittery in anticipation of the landing, though not as much as before. Jojo helpfully pointed out that they’d come too far to die, and everyone nodded in nervous agreement. 

“Ya babies! We’ll be fine,” Sniper snapped in return. Not as many boys seemed convinced. Race was twirling a Corona between his fingers, eager to have a smoke once they got off the plane. 

Ears popped as the plane touched down on the runway, a collective sigh of relief could be heard. Spot’s hastily packed boxers fell out for the second time that day, much to his embarrassment. 

“Do you own anything that isn’t red?” When Jack wasn’t looking, Spot put Finch in a headlock and vowed to soak him into next week if he said another word.   
As they began to file off the plane there was also a collective freak-out when they discovered that instead of noon, it was only 10:00 in Santa Fe. 

“Santa Fe is in a different time zone,” Davey explained to everyone near him. They looked extremely confused. 

“Well you’re invading my time zone!” Les was not happy about being squished in between Davey and Specs while standing up. Jojo’s duffle almost fell on his head, Buttons joked that it would’ve given him a nasty concussion. 

“I can carry my own bag,” Smalls snapped to a bewildered Elmer who’d make the mistake of suggestion she wouldn’t be able to carry it. Crutchie was too stubborn to use the wheelchair for a second time and insisted on limping his way into Santa Fe. 

“We made it,” Jack sighed as they stepped into the bright and sunny airport. Widows revealed a hot and dusty landscape, and a sun so bright it made the sun in New York look like a fluorescent lightbulb. Race was swearing blue and green at the No Smoking sign for the third time that day while Spot laughed like a maniac. 

“Of course, we did,” Katherine grinned. “Now hurry up! We’ve got places to see!” Taking Jack’s hand, they started forward, a gaggle of eager but exhausted boys trailing behind. Santa Fe was waiting.


End file.
